Everybody in West Cumbria deserves the right to live in a home that is well insulated and where their bills are affordable. These were key commitments in Labour’s manifesto before the election. This week we started to deliver on those promises.
Under plans announced this week by the Labour Government, up to 300,000 households across the UK will benefit from home upgrades in the next year, with new funding to help households of every kind in West Cumbria take up measures that can help save money on their bills and deliver cleaner heating.
This includes boosting the budget for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme to support more households to switch to a heat pump – which can save families around £100 a year compared to a gas boiler by using a smart tariff effectively. Homeowners can get a £7,500 heat pump grant through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, which had the highest number of applications ever in October according to Ofgem. And we’re removing the need to submit a planning application to install a heat pump and removing the 1m rule to make it easier to switch.
We’re also going to insulate more homes across the country – potentially saving homeowners around £200 per year. Social housing residents, lower income householders and renters will receive funded energy efficiency upgrades – including insulation and low-carbon heating. I’ll be doing everything I can to get this support for as many households in West Cumbria as possible and I’ve met with the Energy Minister twice already to make our case.
One of the things we need is the workforce who can deliver the programme, which is why I was so pleased last week to open the new Green Energy and Skills Centre at Lakes College. Through this new centre we can train up the workers we need to deliver a major retrofit programme. Congratulations to everyone who has been involved in pulling this new centre together. This will help to secure new jobs as part of these plans to reduce energy bills.
Working alongside Labour’s mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower, the Warm Homes Plan will ensure millions more households benefit from homegrown energy delivered by every new turbine, solar panel, nuclear power plant or pylon built on the path to energy independence.
This follows our plan to lift over one million households out of fuel poverty by consulting on boosting minimum energy efficiency standards for all renters by 2030, delivering warmer homes and cheaper bills.
And in the short term, we’re providing over £400 million of support for families and pensioners this winter through the Household Support Fund and we’ve worked with energy companies to announce half a billion pounds of help with energy bills for those in the most need.
Our plans, alongside the immediate support for families this winter, will put an end to the short-term approach that failed our community under the Conservatives.
Josh MacAlister MP 